Not enjoying 3DO, is it just me?

[OldSchoolGamer]

OK, first things first. I love videogames period from Atari 2600 to Xbox. I have owned just about every platform. I even run emulators to play lots of retro games, love my PS2, Sega Saturn, PC and Dreamcast. So here's the thing. I figured I'd pickup a 3DO because I never really experienced it originally due to high cost. Anyway, a few months ago I picked up a good deal on an original Panasonic 3DO front loading system and about 40 games, mind you the games ARE "backups" yes copies but it was a good package to get me started and I figured if I liked it I could start collecting the real thing. Well I have tried every title, some the most highly rated and popular but I just can't get into it! I am not the type to try a game for 5 minutes and make a rash decision, over the last few months I have tried every title several times and all I can think is "Blah!". Seriously I have enjoyed 8bit nintendo and even Atari 2600 titles more, I used to think since 3DO was one of the first 32bit systems with video capabilities that it would be pretty cool, I figured it's failure was mostly due to the high cost but now I am seriously thinking the main reason it failed is simply because the games SUCKED! Everytime I give it another try I keep thinking I could be playing Sega Saturn or hell even my GBA! Is it me? Anyone not impressed by 3DO? Please your opinions comments or suggestions.......at this point I am thinking of selling of the whole package and re-investing in more Sega Saturn or picking up a Sega CD (I enjoy those games even more)......

[jonjandran]

I bought my 3Doh when it was only about a year old.

The graphics on Need for Speed had me hooked for weeks.
And Slam-n-Jam baketball was a blast to play against friends.

But I recently tried to get back into it and just couldn't. The same games are on the Playsttion and they look better , play better, and the controller is nicer on the Playstation.

Oh well it was fun while it lasted. :)

[fishsandwich]

I have a 3DO and 70+ games, including what most gamers consider to be the "good" 3DO games.

I haven't played my 3DO in over TWO YEARS.

Anythihg the 3DO can do the Saturn or PSone can do better, and the few true exclusives just aren't worth the trouble, especially with the crap 3DO controller.

I'm probably going to get rid of it and all the games.

Cheers

[le geek]

I can see pulling the old 3DO out to play occasionally. But I really like Twisted and Zhadnost as party games...

Road Rash, Need For Speed, and Return Fire are still pretty cool. And Need For Speed was worse on the PSX (at least until the thrid one).

But yeah many early 3-d games do not age well. Esp ones with low frame rates...

Ben

[digitalpress]

The majority of people didn't enjoy it back then... are you surprised that you're one of those who doesn't enjoy it now?

;)

Incidentally, I do enjoy the system as I've said many times here. I refer you to this thread where I spent a goodly amount of time re-acquainting myself with the system during the research for our latest book.

http://www.digitpress.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=33058

[Jive3D]

When I was 14 I wanted a DUO, but then my dad was like, hey look at 3DO and I was like, okay cool! and then he said, looks I bought you a CD-i instead!

Doh! LOL

[maxlords]

Personally, I enjoy it, but there's only a handful of games I truly like on it...

Icebreaker
Star Control 2
Guardian War
Road Rash
Return Fire

And mostly I just keep it for those :) I rarely actually USE the system tho.

[BigGeorgeJohnson]

I still enjoy my 3DO sometimes, I think Star Control 2 is one of the best games ever made. And the system is great for light gun fans, I think those old FMV shooters are better than the crap gun games they put out now.

[Djfinny]

I also own a 3D0 and played it A LOT in the early 90's. I can certainly understand your points to some degree However being that it was one of the first 32bit consoles to offer titles in CD media (hence the painfully slow load times for just about everything - not a good thing). Looking further into the CD technology at that time , particularly with the 3DO, there where many titles that 3DO game developers simply went "Actual Video Footage" happy because of the large amounts of information they could store on a CD's. So, it was quite realistic playing games like Twisted with a real game show host and contestants - but it was another thing when the game would lag out while the punch line of a joke would load from CD. Kind of killed the fun. Still, even with these load lags, there where still quite a few excellent titles for the 3DO.

Street Fighter 2 Turbo (best port to the arcade I've ever played)
Star Control 2 - already stated, best game on the 3DO
The Horde - Surprisingly, even with cut scenes from Kirk Cameron (sp) the game was still really fun.
Wing Commander 3
Guardian Wars
Space Hulk - scary game... I should have posted this title in the recent "scariest game" tread
Night Trap - Good video footage and game - perfect example of slow CD load times killing the fun.
Return Fire 1&2 - Great 2 player game

[doubledownon11]

Twisted - The Game Show, is a great party, drink-a-beer with game. You'll be laughing for hours.

And of course don't forget the Adult-Choose-Your-Own-Adventure game "Plumber's Don't Wear Ties"

[max 330 mega]

i have one, hate it.
the only reason i ever pull it out is to play streetfighter 2, but i hate streetfighter 2 also.... soo i guess all in all, i hate it. LOL

[goatdan]

I have one, and I can't decide.

I have two games for it that I adore and are system exclusives... well, sorta. Both came out on PC.

Lost Eden -- It's like a choose your own adventure book, but it's fun. To me, at least. I love the story.

Incredible Machine -- It's awesome, and my PC is too fast to run the PC version. I have the sequel on the PC though.

Other than that, I haven't found too much I like. Guardian War is pretty cool, and if you want to check it out I have it at the GOAT Store for $5.00 new, which is better than eBay prices. (Small plug :) )

http://www.goatstore.com/info.php?id=463000

I personally don't like it that much, but it is one of those games that I can understand why people think it's cool.

[Anexanhume]

I had one, and got rid of it. Yeah, it was cool having a console that cost 700 at launch, but this system suffers from the same thing a lot of systems suffer from in my mind. Basically, it was one of the first to break a barrier in gaming. It was one of the first consoles to push 3D graphics, and because of that, they suck LOL
For me as a gamer, it's tough to enjoy a game with 3d blobs and pretend it's a car or something unless the gameplay minus the idea of what I'm doing is really fun-- usually isn't. Don't get me wrong, playing smurfs on Atari isn't bad because I can recognize the characters and am able to appreciate it on that level, but the 3d capabilities of the 3do, jaguar, and saturn just aren't that appealing to me. Once the games break in and get a decent look to them, then it's fun. Maybe I'm not imaginative enough, but there are some excellent consoles for not having to imagine much ( ex neo geo ). That's why I see myself probably collecting mostly for the later 2d consoles such as neo geo, turbo grafx, genesis, and snes.

[Nature Boy]

I think that if you're truly going to appreciate asystem you have to experience it before it's support dies.

Which isn't to say you can't appreciate a system you're coming to after it's dead. It's just to say that if you *do* get a chance to experience it during it's so called heyday you'll appreciate it more in years to come.

I didn't own a 3DO but I did rent one from the place I worked at. Took home FIFA and Road Rage and had a *blast* with it. So, 5 years later when I did finally buy one for myself I find I enjoy it. And I still play it now and again (Dragon's Lair mostly). Whereas some other systems from that era that I didn't really play around with just sit there and make me wonder how people could enjoy them so much.

[blissfulnoise]

I got a 3DO when it released, I really liked it. Guardian War is still an awesome tactical strategy rpgish game. The Star Control 2 port is also oustanding, and that game is one of my favorites of all time.

Other games I liked that haven't been mentioned.

Syndicate is great, though you can play it on a number of other systems.

Theme Park has a good port on the 3DO.

Alone In The Dark is also outstanding (only other place you can get the original other than PC)

Slayer and Deathkeep are fun FPSish Dungeons and Dragons games; pacing is a bit wierd and the controls are difficult to adapt to, but they're a lot of fun.

I'm in the minority, but POed is a lot of fun to me. Great FPS.

If you can find it, the Yu Yu Hakuso fighting game is very unique. Uses animation captures from the show. Very wierd controls, but a great showpiece.

Way of the Warrior is good for a laugh. It plays like poop though.

Samurai Showdown is a respectable port. Has Earthquake in it.

And say what you want, the Putt Putt games have a unique charm to them.

[retroman]

I loved the 3DO... i got one when it came out...so its sort of near and dear to me...Its got some good games....Need 4 Speed got its start on the 3DO. Road Rash is good....Captin Quazar, Gex, Hell, Cannon Fodder, Super Street Fighter 2.....i could go on...

[FlufflePuff]

I am currently enjoying my 3DO. Some of the games people rave about (Road Rash) I didn't find that enjoyable, but others I really enjoy. Return Fire 1 and 2 are great. I briefly played Lucienne's Quest and I plan to come back. Star Control 2 is one of the best games of the 90's, and it won't run on my PC anymore. Space Hulk is fun if not outdated. Overall, the number of stinkers on the system vastly overwhelm the good titles, but there is some fun to be had.

[NEOFREAK9189]

3do have best super Street Fighter 2 Turbo (best port to the arcade I've ever played I love the music 8-)

[Mangar]

One game that wasn't mentioned that me and and some of my friends love is - Paatank. I guess we may be the only ones, but for us it was a completely unique game, and was just a blast. Me and my g/f pulled it out, and were playing it only a couple weeks ago.

For those who haven't played it - It's essentially a "virtual" pinball game, with the player acting as the ball.

[oesiii]

Personally, I enjoy it, but there's only a handful of games I truly like on it...

Icebreaker
Star Control 2
Guardian War
Road Rash
Return Fire

And mostly I just keep it for those :) I rarely actually USE the system tho.


That's practically my list too. I would also add:

Twisted
Lemmings
FIFA Soccer
Madden Football
Night Trap

I don't play it too often but my favorite feature of the 3DO is that it plays CD-R backups with no problem and there's tons of disc images available on the newsgroups. So besides the forty games I own I've also tried another 50 or so. That's a nice feature on a 15-year old console :D

[devilman]

The only game I really enjoyed playing on the 3DO was Twisted, but as I'm generally a solo gamer, it never got played so I sold both my 3DO systems and all the games I had with it. I normally try to keep something of each console I try but I really didn't take to the 3DO, likewise the Philips CD-I.

[Anthony1]

I have stated many, many times before that I think the 3DO is one of the most underated and underapreciated systems of all time. It's place in Video Game history just isn't what it should be.

It's rather unfortunate, but that is the way it is.


I think the reason why is very clear. The system was unbelievable expensive, and there were alot of really crappy games available. So if you didn't know the deal, and you weren't aware of what the real quality 3DO software was, then you certainly thought the machine was an overpriced dud.


Here is the deal. I actually got a 3DO pretty early in it's life. About 6 months after it came out. I lucked out, and was able to get one for basically $400, which was actually very cheap at the time. It was an open box model, but it worked perfectly for me.

I can tell you this, that when somebody played Total Eclipse for the first time, it was a totally amazing experience. I mean, it just shattered everything before it. You have to understand that at this time, all that people played was the SNES and Genny and Sega CD. When people first saw Total Eclipse and Crash N Burn and John Madden Football.......those games were totally jaw dropping back in 93 and early 94. You really have to understand that in 1993, a game like Crash N Burn was just so super advanced back then. That game wasn't very good, but I remember playing it over and over again, just to see all the jaw dropping visuals. It was so state of the art for 1993.


Having said all of that, I can say that the 3DO definitely has a flavor all it's own, and I think people should take the time to sample some of the games that give 3DO it's true "3DO feel".

These would be my top 3DO games to check out, to get that true 3DO flavor.


1. Road Rash - This was the game that caused people to really look at the 3DO and really consider it. When this game came out, it was a game that looked better than what people were playing in the arcade. Totally amazing. Awesome soundtrack.

2. Gex - Unfortunately, the 3DO didn't get much platforming love. It's a damn shame, cause the system could have had some unbelievable 2D platform games. Gex was the first platform type game for the 3DO and definitely the best one. It's a classic 3DO game.

3. John Madden Football - Ok, I must admit that in the early 90's, I was a total Madden junkie. I was basically a Madden junkie until the very first NFL2K came out for the Dreamcast. So I was a huge fan of the first madden, Madden 92, Madden 93, all on Genesis. I played some Madden 94, but really, when John Madden Football for the 3DO came out, that was just so freaking amazing. The players went from being these tiny little characters, to these huge life size realistic looking players. At least realistic for early 1994.

4. Out of this World - This is far and away the most brilliant version of OOTW. Beautiful visuals, and breathtaking sound. A true work of art. Period.

5. Escape from Monster Manor - This game was somewhat basic, but it was just very damn fun. Again, you have to realize that in 1994, this was totally amazing.

6. Slayer - Slayer was a game that when you first saw it, you were like, "Wow, they have a total 3D world here. The music was very epic, and the experience just seemed pretty grand at the time. However, I must admit that I can't play this game today.

7. Way of the Warrior - This game was actually a pretty crappy game, and it doesn't control very well, but it was a big time smash hit for the 3DO. I think this is Naughty Dog's first real game. They basically did a blantant rip off of Mortal Kombat, with some really dumb characters and over the top scaling and stuff like that. Control was horrible, soundtrack was really good, sound effects really good, and visuals were just as good as what people were playing in the arcades. If you had a 3DO and a really big TV, it was like having a arcade machine at your house back in 1994. The Saturn didn't hit till Summer of 95, and the PS1 didn't hit till September 95, so you must understand that the 3DO was a technological marvel until those two systems came out

8. Shockwave - Okay, Shockwave was sweet. I mean this is like a Half Life or a Halo, where the game tries to involve you in a movie like experience. This was a 3D shooting game, but it used FMV sequences to involve you in this huge story of alien invasion on Earth. It really was a well done interactive experience. Truly next level when it first came out.

9. Return Fire - sweet game, solid playability

10. Demolition Man - Guilty pleasure, but actually quite fun

11. Night Trap - best version of Night Trap. Video and sound quality much better and a larger window.

12. Slam N Jam 95 - This game was totally amazing for it's time. It was much too arcadey for me actually, I'm more of a "action sim" sports guy, but still the players were so freaking huge, and the game was so arcade like. This is the first system that had games that were just as good visually and sound wise as freaking arcade games.

13. Crash N Burn - If you want some real 3DO flavor, then Crash N Burn is the game. We are talking October of 1993. This game rocked October of 1993.

14. Total Eclipse - This was the game that made you think that you actually didn't blow way too much money on the 3DO. When you first played this game, you were like, okay, this justifies the purchase of the 3DO.

15. Need for Speed - This game was a game that made people that didn't have a 3DO super jealous.

16. The Horde - This is a game that I think still holds up very well today, in terms of playing this game in 2004.

17. Captain Quazar - This was actually one of the first games that looked like a real "video game" if you know what I mean. Like a 16 bit game on crack.

18. Fifa International Soccer - This game was another game that made you say, Okay, the 3DO was actually worth it. Again, this game was so far beyond anything seen before it, just shattering any soccer game previous. Unfreaking believable sound for the time. One of the first games to really use Dolby Surround Sound to it's fullest extent. The chants that the crowd would do while the game was being played was simply amazing.

19. Icebreaker - This is a cool game

20. Killing Time - I think this game came later in the 3DO existence. I never had it originally, but I got it not too long ago, and it's actually pretty cool. I'm sure this seemed super advanced when it first came out.

21. Supreme Warrior - very cheesy FMV game, but I have a soft spot for cheesy FMV games.

22. Sewer Shark - Basically just a larger video window and slightly better sound than the Sega CD version.

23. Soccer Kid - Again, one of the few games that is a "true" video game



Man, I just can't remember the games right now. I know that there is a ton more that I should mention.

[Predatorxs]

Personally, I enjoy it, but there's only a handful of games I truly like on it...

Icebreaker
Star Control 2
Guardian War
Road Rash
Return Fire

And mostly I just keep it for those :) I rarely actually USE the system tho.

Was Super Street fighter any good on the 3DO??

http://www.xs.dsl.pipex.com/avator/ms_ufo.gif..XS

[Lord Contaminous]

Anyone played "The Daedalus Encounter?

It wasn't all that great except for the fact that Tia Carerre is in it.

[Iron Draggon]

It's just you. I love my 3DO! I got it when the Panasonic FZ-10 came out for a reasonable price, so I only paid about $200 for mine, and it was worth it. Having Gex as the pack-in was a great idea too, because that was one of the things that sold me on it. I might not have bought one, if it wasn't for that. Too bad it later came out on Saturn & Playstation too, so that kinda ruined alot of it's charm on the 3DO, but it's still a rockin' little platformer.

My favorites are Need For Speed and Road Rash, but I have alot of other favorites besides those two. If I listed them all here, I'd probably be listing half of the entire 3DO catalog though, so I'll just mention one that hasn't been mentioned yet. It's just a puyo puyo game, but it's a really good one:

Trip'd!

Sweet game, nice graphics, and a funky cool soundtrack. I love playing it! So there are a few, but most of them are very obscure and never really made it. The 3DO is still what it was designed to be, an enthusiast system for the person who already has everything else anyway. It's not supposed to be a maintsream sensation, so it's alot like the NeoGeo was, except not as good.

And as everyone else said, at the time, the graphics were unheard of. So you have to forget that it's all been done much better since then, and just appreciate it for what it is. Cutting edge with all the rough edges of the era. When it shines it shines, and when it doesn't, it looks really bad by today's standards. But the games are still alot of fun, if you can get beyond all that.

[The Brown Eye]

Get yourself a copy of Flopon World (Trip'd 2). It is far more bizarre than the first one. It also has four different games on it, and one of them is a shooter type game. I wonder if Eno was on drugs when he made that one. Just another example of Japanese weirdness that will never come here.

BTW: I also must recommend Guardian War. Quite the relaxing game.

[maxlords]

I forgot to mention Gex. That game was friggin AMAZING! I still love it...and have a retail edition :) I always laughed at people who raved about it for the PSX because I had it way earlier ;)

Also..Road Rash for 3D0 is IMO the best version of Road Rash EVER made. If you get to the expert levels it's so blazing fast you won't even believe it. I've crashed on my bike and flown 20 blocks before....